Apurvi Chandela didn¡¯t have a World Cup gold till January this year. Now she has two.
The ace shooter, who had won her first World Cup gold in the New Delhi edition in February, clinched another on Sunday and topped the podium in the women¡¯s 10m air rifle event at the ISSF World Cup in Munich. In the second World Cup at Beijing, last month, Apurvi had finished fourth.
On Sunday, Apurvi¡¯s score 251 was only 0.2 point more than of China¡¯s Luyao Wang (250.8), while another Chinese Hong Xu finished third with a score of 229.4.
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The win was special for Apurvi. It was the same venue last year where she had finished fourth after being in gold contention till she shot a freak 5.9.
Memories of last year¡¯s crash still played on Apurvi¡¯s mind on Sunday. ¡°Of course I was thinking about it (5.9), but since I have been worked hard on my finals, I just stuck to my plan and didn¡¯t let it affect my performance,¡± she told TOI.
Since the last year¡¯s Munich World Cup, Apurvi has participated in six major events and has entered finals all the time. Out of the six finals, she has won gold twice, while three times she has finished fourth and on one occasion she was placed fifth.
In the last three World Cups, Apurvi has shot 629.3, 630.9 and 633, while in the finals she has shot with an average score of 10.4, which means each shot Apurvi has fired in the last three finals has been a 10.4. In shooting, 10.9 is the highest.
Apurvi feels the competition she faces in the domestic circuit keeps her on her toes and has helped her do well all this while.
¡°We have a tough competition in India. Elavenil (Valarivan), who also shot well today, and other shooters have been consistently shooting so well that I don't have time to be complacent. It has pushed me to do well consistently,¡± she added.
Apurvi has already won a quota place for the Tokyo 2020 Games. She admitted that there is a pressure of maintaining her form in the domestic ranking, but she is not here to complain.
The quota belongs to the country and according to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) policy, the quota goes to the top-ranked shooter and not necessarily to the one who wins it.
¡°There is pressure. I know I will have to maintain my ranking, but I am shooting well and I am enjoying the pressure,¡± the Jaipur girl said.
On Sunday, Elavenil finished fourth with a score of 208.3, after scoring 632.7 in the qualifications. Third Indian in fray, Anjum Moudgil finished 11th after shooting 628.9 in the qualifiers.